Crab season closes, bringing Oregon millions of dollars

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CHARLESTON, Ore. -- The dungeness crab season provides hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars a year for coastal Oregon, and officials say it was a successful year.

We've just hit the official end of commercial crab fishing on the Oregon coast, and fisherman say this year was better in some areas than others.

Scott Adams, Hallmark Fisheries manager, says the crab turned out to be great. "We did have really good crab, they were nice, they were tasty. Profit wise, not as good, but it keeps us going," he said.

The catch in Charleston was fourth among Oregon ports, with Brookings leading the pack this year for hauling in the most crab.

Overall, landings were better than they've been in recent years, officials said.

The grand total? “18.1 million pounds, preliminary numbers, which means our fishermen brought in $48 million into Oregon's ports," said Hugh Link from the Dungeness Crab Commission.

Adams says the taste of the crab caught off the Oregon coast this year is a strong point. "I just got back from New Orleans. I put my crab against their crab and they all liked it, so I'm excited for another crab year."

The crab season will pick back up at the beginning of December, giving the crab a chance to grow.